now, earlier in the fiscal cliff talks, meetings like this had tended to be tense and nonproductive but this meeting gave rise to hopes of a last-minute deal. for the first time in weeks president obama reported genuine progress to averting some part of the so-called fiscal cliff. >> i'm modestly in agreement we'll achieve. >> they're now chasing a much smaller deal than originally sought. the final product if there is one will not include trillions in debt reduction or federal spending or tax code reform. it won't even include across the board spending cuts. it will focus on tax rates and a few spending items. >> that's the bearare minimum we should be able to get done. >> sidelined for now. house speaker john boehner. as they left they sounded like they were closing in on a compromise. >> think it was a very positive meeting. there was not a lot of hilarity in the meeting. everyone knows how important it is. >> we'll be working hard to try to see if we can get there in the next 24 hours, and so i'm hopeful and optimistic. >> the president said the american public is getting frustrated